The Upton Heath Emergency Appeal

Please help us to restore Upton Heath nature reserve; the situation is so severe and so many supporters have asked to help that we are launching this emergency appeal. As a lover of wildlife, you will find it distressing to see so much wildlife destroyed and your support is vital for its recovery.

Click on the tabs above to find out more about the fire, its impact, our future plans and how you can help.

The fire

On 9th June, Dorset’s largest heath fire in decades engulfed the nature reserve destroying 140 acres, the equivalent of 85 entire football pitches. With one third of the nature reserve tragically lost just at the peak of the bird and reptile breeding season this disaster has put wildlife conservation at this reserve back at least 10 years.

About Upton Heath

Upton Heath is a much-loved landmark with views across Poole Harbour, Corfe Castle and the Isle of Purbeck. Since we took on management of the site 13 years ago, our wardens and volunteers have worked tirelessly to improve the habitats on the reserve and it had become one of the most important wildlife sites in England, supporting a tremendous diversity of wildlife including many rare species.

Amazing support

Our immediate action has been to rescue surviving reptiles and clear debris and we have been overwhelmed by the amazing offers of volunteer help and the support of the local community. We now have to face up to the challenges of the aftermath of this devastating fire.

Restoration

If action is not taken quickly to begin the restoration of the damaged areas of the reserve and to carefully manage the re-growth of the heath, we may never see a full recovery of the many rare plants and animals it has become a haven for. It would be a tremendous loss for wildlife now and for the future. While we will see green shoots very quickly, this will be just the start of a long road to full recovery.

Your help is needed

With your help, we can restore this habitat back to its former glory with the sight of basking sand lizards, swathes of yellow spikes of bog asphodel and the churr of nightjar filling the evening air.

Now more than ever we urgently need your support, so we urge you to dig deep to help the heath and the wildlife survivors of this tragic fire.

Upton Heath: Before the fire

Upton Heath: During the fire

The fire's impact...

Visited by thousands of people every year, this was Dorset's biggest heath fire since 1976 resulting in the greatest loss of vital wildlife in Dorset for 30 years.

• 200 Fire fighters
• 30 Fire engines
• 11 Land Rovers and other support vehicles

Internationally important wildlife site...

Home to: all 6 British reptile species including the rare sand lizard and smooth snake, 19 species of dragonfly and damselfly, silver-studded blue butterfly, a rich flora including Dorset heath, marsh gentian and bog asphodel, raft and wasp spiders and rare breeding birds including Dartford warbler, nightjars and hobby.

The immediate response…

Dorset Wildlife Trust continues to respond to the needs of wildlife immediately affected by the disaster. Our conservation team has worked with many local volunteers to relocate hundreds of reptiles to unaffected areas of the heath.

Rare snakes killed by the fire

Common lizard saved and relocated

Our recovery plans …

Our conservation team is already planning the heath’s recovery through:

• An in-depth assessment of the damaged areas and utilising specialist advice on the best approach for heather regeneration.
   
• Managing an extensive regeneration programme across all the affected 140 acres.
   
• Re-examining, with the Fire Service and Natural England, fire protection features and access for emergency vehicles to and across the heath.
   
• Long term monitoring of heathland indicator species.
   
• Management of encroaching bracken, gorse and grasses, which tend to come back quicker than heathers and other slow-growing heathland plants. A new grazing scheme will play a crucial role in this.
   
• Increasing work with the Urban Heaths Partnership and the Dorset Heaths Grazing Animal Partnership to deliver an education programme to:
  • raise the profile of the reserve and its management
  • showcase its rare habitats, highlighting the importance of their conservation
  • reduce the heath’s vulnerability to future disasters.
     
• Working with the local community to set up and train volunteer wardens for improved protection and monitoring of the heath.

Please help us

Considerable additional funding is needed if we are to succeed in bringing Upton Heath back to its former glory

Upton Heath fire volunteers

The Aim: to return the Heath to this!

How you can help…

The damage caused by this fire is a huge blow not only for wildlife, but also devastating for the many that enjoy visiting Dorset’s heaths. It’s a big challenge, but with your support we can nurture Upton Heath back to being one of Dorset’s best wildlife sites once again.

Restoration & Education

However, the restoration and education programmes required are enormous and will be very costly needing:

• Consultation of specialist advice
• Replacement of infrastructure lost in the fire
• Heather restoration
• Scrub management
• Establishment of grazing schemes
• Water quality testing of wet heath and mire and habitat restoration where needed
• Monitoring and recording of key species
• Re-creation of fire defensible lines and access features for emergency services
• Purchasing of new emergency equipment
• Running educational activities in local communities

What your donation will buy

We need to raise £35,000 as soon as possible to ensure Upton Heath and its wildlife are restored, protected against further fires and enjoyed by future generations. We will use this money as match funding for grants to secure a much larger sum for future work at this site. So for every £1 donated we may be able to raise a further £9 in grant funding.

£10 ­ replaces a waymarking post
£20 ­ purchases 10m of fencing to establish a new grazing scheme
£50 ­ trains and equips a volunteer warden
£100 ­ supports a schools-orientated education event at Upton Heath
£250 ­ purchases new emergency equipment, including walkie talkies and protective clothing
£500 ­ purchases one Shetland cow, a breed particularly suited to heathland grazing.

Please give as much as you can afford; every little helps.

A bird's nest with eggs burnt in the fire

A female roe deer looking for her fawn